June 4, 2000
STANFORD, Calif. -- Stanford (47-15) advanced to its 12th College World Series in school history and the third in the last four seasons with a 5-3 victory against Nebraska (51-17) in the rubber game of the Stanford Super Regional on Sunday afternoon. The Cardinal won for the third time this postseason when facing elimination.
Stanford starting pitcher Brian Sager won his second consecutive postseason championship game, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits in seven-plus innings. Sager walked four and struck out three in improving to 6-1 for the season. He pushed his school-best career winning percentage to .923 (12-1) and improved to 3-0 all-time in postseason play. Jeff Bruksch allowed a run and struck out two over the final 2.0 innings to notch his 12th save of the year. He is now one save shy of Steve Chitren's school record of 13 set in 1987.
Stanford started the scoring in the opening frame on John Gall's sacrifice fly and added another run in the second when Chris O'Riordan led off with a triple and came home on Andy Topham's sacrifice fly to right field. The Cardinal extended the lead to 3-0 in the fourth when Gall led off with a walk and later scored on an error by Husker first baseman Dan Johnson.
Nebraska responded with a pair of runs in its half of the fourth on an RBI single by Matt Hopper and a passed ball to cut the margin to 3-2.
The Cardinal put the game away in the eighth when Edmund Muth slammed his 18th home run of the season, a two-run shot, to extend the lead to 5-2. Justin Cowan led off the Husker ninth with his 10th homer of the year to complete the scoring.
Eric Bruntlett (4-for-5, 2 R) paced the Cardinal offense with a career-high-tying four hits. It was Bruntlett's first four-hit game of the season and the second of his career. He has hit safely in 13 of the past 14 games. Muth (2-for-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI) and O'Riordan (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 3B) each added a pair of hits for Stanford.
Jamie Rodrigue started for Nebraska and was charged with the loss. The freshman left-hander allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits and struck out two in 3.1 innings of work. Rodrigue dropped to 9-4 for the season. Chad Wiles relieved Rodrigue in the fourth and allowed Muth's two-run homer in 3.2 innings pitched. Thom Ott shut out the Cardinal over the final two frames, striking out two.
Nebraska leadoff hitter Jamal Strong (2-for-3, 1 R) registered his third multi-hit game of the Super Regional and finished the three-game set with a .545 batting average (6-for-11) with four runs scored and a pair of stolen bases.
Stanford will open against Louisiana-Lafayette in the first round of the College World Series. The time and date for the game will be announced on Monday.
R H E Stanford 110 100 020 5 10 1 Nebraska 000 200 001 3 6 1
Batteries: Stanford - Sager, Bruksch (8) and Alvarado. Nebraska - Rodrigue,
Wiles (4), Ott (8) and Cowan.
2B - Muth (20), Gall (22).
3B - O'Riordan (4)
HR - Muth (18), Cowan (10).
WP - Sager (6-1).
LP - Rodrigue (9-4).
SV - Bruksch (12).
TOG - 2:25.
Attendance - 3,682.
Records - Stanford (47-15), Nebraska (51-17).